


Learning a New Way to Love

by RhiD29



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Ace Elsa, Aromantic, Family, Gen, Original Character(s), after Frozen 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21709810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RhiD29/pseuds/RhiD29
Summary: Two years after Anna’s coronation, Arendelle is the target of some trouble once more: Hans still want the kingdom to be his, and this time, he mandates an eleven-year-old child to take care of it. Jenni will have to find a way to get Kristoff away, make sure Elsa doesn’t get back, and then execute Hans’ plan towards Anna, all within three months, or her family will be killed. Will she do it or will the Queens save the say once more?Also, Elsa finds something that'll change her life. Anna gets sick and Kristoff and Elsa are worried about her.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Finding Arendelle’s Weakness – Hans

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Frozen story. I guess I fell back into the fandom after watching Frozen 2. Feel free to comment if you like or don't like it. I will do my best answering any questions as well.
> 
> Please note that my first language is French, so it is possible that I make some mistakes or sentences that you think don't make sense. I don't have anyone whose first language is English to correct me, so if something doesn't make any sense, please let me know and i'll correct it.

Hans made his way to the dark dungeons of the castle he grew up in. His plan to make his family proud of him was not over. He was tired of cleaning after the horses, all he wanted was to be able to find a kingdom to rule on his own. If it wasn’t his, as he was the youngest prince of a big family, he could gain another kingdom. He had loved Arendelle from the time he visited it nearly five years ago, and he still had that kingdom in his mind. After months of thinking, he thought he might have a way to obtain it. He had heard there was a change of leader two years ago and wanted to take advantage of Queen Anna’s naivety. He finally came up with a plan. He knew the King had imprison a family in the dungeons, he didn’t recall why, but it didn’t matter. He was to use them to obtain his wishes. They were vulnerable after all those months inside without seeing the light of the day.

He passed by the parent’s cell. Hans didn’t get why his family had kept both the man and his wife in the same cell. The desperation in their eyes made Hans grin. Yes, his plan could work. He passed them and made his way through more tunnels, until he reached the isolation cells. That was where the daughter was kept. The eleven years old looked up, like he was waking her from a nap.

“Is it dinner time already? Have I sleep the whole afternoon?” she asked replacing her blond hair from her face.

“No. That is not why I came here.”

The girl sat on her bed slowly, wheezing. She tried making a fierce face, but Hans could only laugh at her in pity. He made a sudden step in front to scare her, and the fierceness in the child’s face became fear. She looked unsure. He didn’t want to get too close to her. They had yet to find out if whatever sickness she had could be passed to anyone around, which was why she was by herself, with no inmate around.

“Do you want your freedom?” he asked firmly.

A light was turned on in her eyes. Of course, the idea of not being prisoner would be tempting. That was what he planned on playing with her. “Then, you’ll have to do what I’m about to ask you.”

He saw her hope fade away, replaced by hesitation.

“And what exactly would I have to do? Is it in my abilities? Or you are just messing with me knowing I can’t physically do the things you’ll ask me to?”

Hans grinned again, to torture the girl longer. He waited a few seconds to last it. She stood up in her cell, and crossed her arms.

“Are you going to tell me, or not?”

Hans stared at her, a little bit surprised by the girl’s behavior. He expected her to just listen and be exited in what he’d say. But he liked her attitude. Maybe she was more determined in getting her freedom that he initially thought. He was to abuse her the way he was abused by his siblings as long as she was alive. He knew by the time she achieve his goal; she wouldn’t have long to live. Her lungs were too sick. He expected her to be already dead by now. But using her was easier than, say, her mother. She was more naïve. She was just a child. The perfect puppet.

“You’ll travel to a neighbour kingdom and pretend of being an orphan, so people don’t ask questions. You’ll find a way to poison Anna of Arendelle. I want her dead. But before the poison kills her, you also have to hold off her husband. Tell him you are a Sami orphan, just like he is. Trigger his desire to find his family back, to know where he is from. Make sure he leaves the kingdom. Then, I’ll go there and do what I have to.”

The child wasn’t sure of his idea, he could read it in his face that it didn’t please her. He decided not to tell her Anna was the queen, sure that she’d refuse, nor what his plan really was.

“If you don’t want to do it, I can keep you in your cell until you die of cold and hunger, also.”

The panic in her eyes excited the prince.

“That’s what I thought you’d say. You will save your life for anything. Will you kill Anna of Arendelle?”

“Yes, Prince Hans. I will,” she swore with her head down.

“Good,” Prince Hans said as he unlocked the door. “You will have three months to succeed. If you fail, my family will find you and kill you, and your family in the other cells around, will also be murdered. If you succeed, you will all be free.”

He thought to himself, “ _but you won’t live long enough to enjoy your freedom.”_

He could see the panic in her eyes as he mentioned killing all of them. But she changed it into a fierce look and motivation. “I will go to Arendelle and find that girl named Anna. You will be able to go in the kingdom in less than three months. I swore it on my freedom and my family’s. Can I see them before I leave? Can I see my little sister?”

Hans refused her request as they weren’t part of his plan, to which she seemed very disappointed. He smiled as the girl followed a guard out. Anna and Kristoff were about to go down. And for Elsa, his biggest enemy, Hans had other plans in mind to keep her from her going back to Arendelle. She wouldn’t even have the chance to find out her family is in danger. He just had to find where the hell the enchanted forest was.


	2. The Way to the Kingdom of Arendelle – Jenni

Jenni could feel the wave making the boat balance. She didn’t like the motion of it. She was pissed. They wanted to make sure she didn’t escape and run away, she guessed, because she was locked in the damn boat, prisoner. She was grateful she didn’t have to go to Arendelle completely by land, she had at least obtained that. She knew her health couldn’t face miles and miles of walking. She hoped they’d dropped her close enough to Arendelle. She assumed they had put her into a boat gone for some exploration, because it seemed there was plenty of people on it. But she couldn’t see out where she was, and the motion while being in the dark of a small closed cell made her nauseous. Actually, was it a cell, or just some small compartment? Her legs were numb from being in a minuscule place for hours. Why was she always isolated from everyone? Were they scared she jump off the boat and drown herself? Or was it that sickness she had that she knew wasn’t contagious? Her parents had never gotten it and she had that for as long as she remembered. She didn’t have a name for it, but people were always surprised she was still alive.

She fell back into sleep after thinking about her quest for a few hours. She nearly regretted saying yes, but she wanted some freedom. She didn’t have a plan to intrude Arendelle. She would have to figure out something as she got there. She was scared. What did she get herself into? She wished she was still in her homeland, before people from the Southern Islands got there and murdered a good part of the habitants. Her parents had fought back violently in despair of saving their land, resulting in being kept prisoners. She hadn’t seen them since they were kept prisoners. So much that sometimes she wondered if Hans threatening her to kill them was useless. Maybe they were already dead. She missed them. Her little sister.

She woke up feeling like the boat wasn’t moving as fast. It was just tanging from a side to another, but she didn’t feel it was moving forward, or any direction at all. She heard a bang towards her “cell”.

“Time to get up, lady. That’s the furthest we can get you without an Arendellian seeing our boat.”

The cage’s door opened to a man she didn’t recognize, who pulled her up and pushed her out of the boat as if he was in a rush.

Her legs almost gave out when she touched the ground. She suddenly felt the urge to throw up, as if the sudden stop of balancing motion didn’t please her stomach, despite her being seasick usually. Shouldn’t she feel actually better?

She looked at the distance. She was surrounded by mountains by all sides, or the big open sea. She wouldn’t have the choice but climbing up, to her despair. They wanted her to get lost or die of exhaustion, didn’t they?

She stepped toward the mountains, trying to figure out which was the smallest. She had no clue where she was, or where she was supposed to go. She looked back at the boat. It hadn’t move yet. She saw someone making a horse go off from it.

“Take this, it will be easier for you. Hans wouldn’t want you to fail because you’re killed by wolves or a snowstorm. Be careful in the mountains, we might be in early spring, but it’s still freezing out there.”

She looked at the horse. She always loved animals. But she never had ridden a horse before. It didn’t matter, she had a way to travel easily now. It took her a few times to get on the saddle, as she was a but small for the animal, but she managed to succeed. She had to.

“Come on, let’s find Arendelle,” Jenni said to the horse. She had no clue what to do to make him move. She just held the reins. She figured how to make him turn left or right. He ended up going forward, to her pleasure.

They went up, as they didn’t really have the choice. It was getting dark and Jenni started panicking. She was nowhere near to see a kingdom. She feared being further of Arendelle at some point. She was completely lost in the mountain.

She tried finding a shelter as the moon lighted up the sky. The mountain was getting harder for her horse to climb on. She feared having to go back on her steps. But then, she saw something shining a little bit higher. It looked like a castle made of ice. It was beautifully built directly on the mountain and looked majestic. She ordered to her horse to walk faster.

“We’ll shelter in this castle for tonight. Do you think someone actually lives here?” She asked herself aloud, knowing perfectly the horse would not respond.

Jenni estimated it took them about an hour before they got to the castle. She looked at the stairs. They were made of ice and she was scared to slip on them. She tried not to think about the ravine it crossed. She had to climb up there. She attached to the ramp of the stairs the horse she named Mira (she assumed the horse was a female, but she had no idea), and proceeded to make her way to the door. She looked back to the horse hoping it wouldn’t be too cold for the night, and wondering if she can find food for the both of them.

She knocked, thinking it would be more polite if someone lived there. She heard a noise she couldn’t identify. The door opened, and she stared at the hallway in surprise. She wasn’t sure her brain was processing what was in front of her.

There was hundreds on mini snowmen, about the size of her hat. They looked excited to see someone. Those things were alive! She hesitated between fascination and fear. She heard loud footsteps and her brain could only tell her, “run away while you can,” but she was so tired she couldn’t move. A giant made its appearance. Jenni was scared and thought it’d attack, but it just stared. Moved his head to one side, then the next. Jenni hoped it was just curiosity and not _You will be my lunch tomorrow_.

The mini snowmen came under her and lifted her from the ground. She screamed in horror. Where the hell were they going? She saw herself going upstairs. Moved in different hallway just to have Jenni lost, not knowing in which area of the castle she was. Then, they ended up opening a door. She saw a bed in the room. A human-sized bed. It was covered in dust, so Jenni figured out the person who had lived here hadn’t come in a while. It was pretty comfortable and as she looked up, she noticed the architecture and details in everything. It let her speechless. Everything was shiny, ice blue, with plenty of mosaics everywhere. Her bedroom looked to lead to a balcony. She decided to look at it, in case she sees a way to go down the other side of the mountain.

She hadn’t realised how cold it was on the top of the mountain, but going back outside, she suddenly was freezing. The wind was chill. She looked at the distance. She’d have found the mountains stunning if it wasn’t that she was too lost to look at the beauty. The moon lighten all of them. She saw where she was coming from at her left. At the right, there seemed to be a path down. She wasn’t sure if she saw lights further away. And if so, was it Arendelle, or it was a misleading hint? If only she could get to any civilisation that knew how to guide her…

It took her not very long to fall asleep, even if she wasn’t sure she’d wake up the next morning. She still feared that big giant snow monster. And she wasn’t so sure she could trust the minis either. But she woke up in the for-some-reasons warm bed.

The mini snowmen were there when she got out of the room. They seemed to want her to follow them, so she did. She got to a dining room, even more beautiful than the bedroom. Everything was in the details. Whoever built this place must have taken years to do so, and was very thorough. She smelled food, and immediately, her stomach asked for more. She hadn’t had a meal in forever. She had eaten snow to keep her hydrated on her way, basically.

The giant came in with the dishes that looked very tasteful. It reminded her of her home. It smelled like her mom’s cooking. Oh, how she missed her family. She hadn’t grown up with a lot, her parents weren’t in those considered rich, far from that, but she always had had good food to eat. A nice warm home.

A tear fell down her eyes. She had to keep in her mind her mission. It was the only way to see them again. She thanked the snowmen of all sizes before going back to the entrance. She felt discouraged as she opened the door with some food for the horse. Mira was nowhere in sight. Her horse was gone. The little bit of hope she had was drained away. She nearly went back to the castle and stayed there forever, but she couldn’t. That was not what her family would have wanted. She didn’t have time to waste. The fastest she went to Arendelle, the fastest that Anna girl was down.

She made her way down by the way she had spotted the night before. Walked for hours to exhaustion. She finally spotted a light. It was just a small house, but it was someone! A big man opened the door. It turned out looking more like a shop than a house, but she didn’t mind having a warm place with a bit of food and getting some rest. With the cold and the walking, her wheezing never had been worse. She felt like crashing on the ground anytime. She was nearly fainting.

The man offered some help, and told her she was on the right way to Arendelle. It was nice to hear. He offered her a turn in the sauna where is family was at the moment. Jenni’s smile couldn’t get bigger. She loved saunas. With her journey stressing her, it was very welcome.

A day later, she finally saw it on the horizon. Arendelle. It was a beautiful kingdom, and Jenni was sad she wasn’t there to make herself a home. But she had to assume Anna and Kristoff that Hans mentioned had done bad things. She had to trust Prince Hans in this. She got into the village, and someone stopped her.

“I’m sorry, have I seen you around before?”

Jenni remembered Hans’ instructions quite clearly, and lied, “No, I have never been here. I… I’m running away. Someone killed my parents, and I escaped. I was wondering if this place here could be my home? What’s the name of this place?”

She continued in all the lies Hans had asked to say. The woman smiled at her. “Well, I have an unused bed, so if you help my husband to take care of horses, we could give you a place to stay and food?”

Jenni could only smile. Maybe it’ll be easier than she thought to intrude in Arendelle? Now, she had to figure out who were Anna and her boyfriend Kristoff. She couldn’t ask directly, she wasn’t supposed to know anything about this kingdom.

“You haven’t seen a horse that wasn’t yours, uh? Mine got scared and ejected me before running away.”

“I don’t think so, darling. Now, you seem exhausted, go get some rest, wouldn’t you?”

Jenni made a polite and grateful smile, before taking her things with her in the room. The poison was still in her pockets. She needed to find a place to hide it. For now, it’d be under her bed. If someone asked what it was, she would lie. With her sickness, pretending it is some sort of medicine would be easy, no?

The next few days, she spent them in the stables. After work, she’d wander around, ears all open for the names Kristoff and Anna. She had to figure who she had to poison before making her next move.

It took her about a week before finding out who was her target. But she would have taken anyone else. Now, Hans desires to have them killed made all sense. The puzzle was finished in Jenni’s mind.

She realised all of that talking with the woman and man sheltering her, one night during diner.

“Can you tell me about your king? Is he good?” Jennie asked, thinking Hans hated that kingdom because he was particularly bad.

“Oh, dear, we do not have a king. We have a Queen, though. And she is perfect. She cares for us. She and her sister saved our kingdom from some dangers a few times. I don’t really want to talk about what happened with strangers, but Queen Anna and her husband Kristoff are the best we could ask for. Anna’s parents were quite good also, but they shut the doors of the castle too long. They shouldn’t have hidden Elsa like that.”

“Who is Elsa?”

“Anna’s older sister. She was our Queen from five years ago when their parents dies to two years ago. She decided to go live somewhere else, with a tribe her mother was from, Queen Anna told us.”

Jenni paled. Hans wanted her to kill the Queen Anna of Arendelle, and find a way to send her husband away. Not only that, but he hadn’t mentioned a sister. If he wanted to become the king of Arendelle, shouldn’t he keep Elsa away too? Or something had happened, and she never come back? She wasn’t so sure the idea of poisoning the Queen was good. She didn’t want to do it, now, but she didn’t want her parents to die, and Hans knew where Arendelle was. He would find her.

She looked at the castle on the edge of the bay. It looked quite guarded, but not as much as the Southern Island was. She had to find her way in. She had nine weeks left to achieve it. She had to make herself some plans.


	3. A New Form of Love - Elsa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa is living in the enchanted forest and Saturday marks the fifth year without her parents. On top of that, something happens in the forest that will change her future.

Elsa looked at the horizon. The snow was starting to melt in the magical forest. She knew there was probably barely left in Arendelle now. She was way northern, and just by her presence, snow stayed longer. She had noticed it the previous spring. After two years in the forest, she was acclimated to the weather being a little bit different than in her kingdom. She loved being outdoor. It was a big change from growing up, and she enjoyed every minute of it. She felt so connected with the elements, with her mother. She had developed friendship what would last all her life. People didn’t judge her for having powers, and she was so grateful for that. They embraced it. And she did herself too. Since she knew she was the fifth spirit, she understood the source of her powers and she didn’t hate them anymore. She understood better what she could and couldn’t do.

She looked at the sea away and sighed. In two days, it would mark the fifth anniversary of the death of her parents. She didn’t really know how to handle that. She missed them. She wanted to spent time with her sister, but at the same time, it’s like she wanted to be alone with herself. She knew she wanted to go back to Ahtohallan someday and thought that the next morning could be a good idea. She’d camp there by herself, just to be alone with the nature, the elements. She didn’t want to go back deep in there, she almost died the last time and it wasn’t part of her plan. But her journey to Ahtohallan was the day she felt the closest to her mother, and she knew it would be good to her to return.

She heard the snow cracking behind her. It was Honeymaren. She was Elsa’s best friend, and the Northuldra native had become Elsa’s confident, now that she was miles away from Anna.

“You look sad, what is going on?”

Elsa hesitated. She knew her friend would understand why she wasn’t a very happy person lately, but she was unsure of how she’d take Elsa’s plans. She had never returned to Ahtohallan ever.

“I miss my parents. I can’t believe it’s been five years. It seems so long and so close at the same time.”

“Oh. I didn’t know. If you want to talk, you know I’m there. I didn’t know them, but I know you and Anna are good people, so they must have been too.”

Elsa made a faint smile. Except locking her in her bedroom forever, they were good parents who just wanted the best for their daughters. Her father was probably scared of her, though. She knew that the cell she was thrown in when Hans wanted to kill her was already made. No one but her parents knew for her powers, before her coronation, which meant only one thing: one of her parents, most likely her father, had it made for her, in case she went out of control.

A tear formed in Elsa’s eyes. There were not many people she authorised herself to cry in front of. Honeymaren was the second. Her sister was the other one.

“Hey, it’s okay to be sad, you’re allowed to live your emotions. Do you want to go on a walk with me?”

Elsa wiped off the tears, feeling a little shameful. She understood what Honeymaren was telling her, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t embarrassed about crying in front of her.

“Come on, Snowqueen, let’s go by the river,” Honeymaren decided, pulling Elsa by the arm.

Elsa made a little smile at the nickname. Honeymaren had called her Snowqueen for a while. At first, she didn’t like it, after all, she wasn’t a queen anymore, but she had gotten used to it. Her friend had never let it go, no matter how many times she had protested against it.

Elsa and Honeymaren walked by the river, at first in silence. Honey was a comprehensive woman, and Elsa realised she wasn’t going to break the silence, allowing her to feel, to grief. They got to a place the former queen had always loved: a little fall surrounded by rocks where she could just sit and look at the water. It calmed her when she was pissed, and it reminded her of home. After all, Arendelle was partly surrounded by water. Having a view of any source of water was necessary to Elsa’s mental. She wouldn’t live somewhere far from the sea or an important river. She needed some grey/blue in her life.

“I’m going to leave away tomorrow. I’d be back the next day,” Elsa told Honeymaren, not mentioning where on purpose.

“You’re travelling to Arendelle to spend your day with Anna,” Honeymaren assumed. She hadn’t form it as a question, just like a fact.

Elsa paused, with hesitation. “Actually, no. I’ll probably go in Arendelle later this month. I know I haven’t been for a while, but I don’t know… sometimes, Anna gets on my nerves, and even though I know Saturday marks the fifth-year anniversary, I…. I need to live it by myself. Anna is the kind of person to ask me every five second how I feel, and I do not need this right now.”

“Am I getting on your nerves in this moment?”

“No!” Elsa immediately said. Honey and Anna didn’t have the same personality at all, and Elsa knew her friend was very good at letting her some space when needed. “I want to go camping on Ahtohallan’s shore for a night.”

“Elsa… are you sure? I mean, I know it’s the source of your powers and all, but…”

“I will stay on the shore. I do not mean to enter into the frozen river. Nearly dying once was enough.”

“I don’t like that, Elsa. What if you’re tempted to go back, if you’re alone, no one will be there to call you home? Can I go with you?”

Honeymaren’s tone was becoming firmer and suddenly worried. Elsa sighed and replied firmly enough so her friend understand there is no negotiation possible, “No. I am not bringing anyone with me. I said I wanted to be alone.”

She stood up. She needed some space. The tone went up a bit.

“Elsa, I know, but I don’t think it’s safe.”

Old Elsa would have been tempted to drawn sudden ice between the two of them.

“So you don’t trust me, aren’t you?”

“Els… that’s not what I mean. I always wanted to visit it too. I trust you, but I don’t like the idea of you being alone.”

“Well, that is my plan, and anyway, how do you plan on crossing the Dark Sea if I don’t want you there, uh? Now, leave me alone!”

Elsa rushed in the village to take her things, leaving her friend behind. She decided she’d go tonight instead. It didn’t take time, she took a change of clothes, a bit of food, and then she was gone. She noticed Honeymaren, Ryder and Yelena looking at her go. She didn’t care. She’d be bac the next morning. She just needed a bit of time to herself, with no one else. Just her, the elements, and the memory of her parents. She planned to cross the sea exactly where her parents’ ship had touched the ground in pieces.

She went down to the river, where the Northuldra didn’t see her anymore, and called Gale. She didn’t want to waste her time in the forest. It was useless. She found her way to the beach in a few minutes. That’s where she noticed she had a little friend with her.

“Hey Bruni, you want to go with me?”

The salamander looked at her, as it agreed. Elsa didn’t mind it. Bruni didn’t talk. And it was a free element, she didn’t have to watch him or anything. She assumed even if he went down in Ahtohallan, he’d come back. And she could call him whenever she needed to. Actually, he’d be quite useful to keep her warm during the night there.

“Thank you for coming, in fact.”

She looked up. Arendelle’s ship was just at her right. But she felt something was off.

“What on…,” Elsa said, unable to finish her sentence.

The boat wasn’t alone anymore. There was a new one just next. If it had had a flag on it, it wasn’t there anymore. It was a total waste. Elsa hesitated to go take a closer look. Who had tried to cross the dark sea? What did they want? Did the Northuldra were in danger of betrayal once again? Elsa couldn’t forget 36 years prior that Arendellians had tried getting the advantage of the tribe in the magical forest.

She heard a horse neigh. Nokk. It was furiously looking at the wreckage. No need to ask who had drowned it.

“Nokk, who does that belongs to?”

She didn’t get any answer, so she decided to do some exploration, with Bruni.

“Please, do not light it on fire. There might be some valuables in there.”

There wasn’t anything helping her to find out whose kingdom it belonged to. _Water has memory_ she remembered her good friend Olaf saying. She did what she did to find out what happened to her parents, months before, in the wreckage just next. She found plenty of people surrounded by waves, as she expected. She didn’t recognize any faces. One figure got her curious, though. A man was leaning towards an invisible object. Elsa thought either he was looking into a compartment or wanting to hide something.

“Help me find what he might have been looking at. With some luck, there is a treasure somewhere hidden in here, and not lost in the sea,” she told Bruni. With his size, he could be useful, right?

She heard a sound looking like a whining, about fifteen minutes later.

“Bruni, where are you at, what are you telling to tell me?”

Bruni showed up in a little ball of fire, the complete opposite direction. Elsa suddenly was unsure. Was someone alive? She didn’t feel very secure. Bruni decided he was more courageous and ran into the direction the sound had coming from.

This time, she heard Bruni making a sound, like he wanted her to hurry there. So she did. He had found a treasure chest.

“What is in this?” Elsa whispered. She felt the sound they heard wasn’t coming from there, but at the same, Elsa had no clue what she was looking for. She just feared being killed wile opening the chest.

She decided that she had to anyways. She used her powers to open it. She gasped in horror. That was most likely where the sound came from, after all. She felt saddened. Hidden in the chest was a small child. Elsa took it in her arms. No matter where he was from, it deserved better than ending in a small compartment such as this.

As she took the child in her arms, she noticed by the dress she wore that it was a girl who was probably between two and three years old. The clothes were all wet from the water, and were quite cold, like it was about to freeze. Her lips were blue. Her hair were nearly as pale as Elsa’s. The former queen realised she was breathing very faintly.

“Bruni, light a fire, she’s alive!”

The salamander was hidden in the chest. Elsa looked back into it, wondering what caught Bruni’s attention. There was a bit of water, but not enough to drown the child. She realised there was a younger child into in, who had probably crushed a bit by the girl. She rushed to take him too. Elsa had no clue how old he could be, she hadn’t seen tons of babies to have a good estimation of months. By a quick look, he was alive. Elsa was desperate to warm them up. Bruni finally lit a fire while Elsa took their wet clothes off. She reached to her bag and took out some blanket she had packed. Once undress, she could confirm the baby was a boy, whom she wrapped in warm cloth. He wasn’t blue yet, for some reasons, and Elsa hoped he was still alive.

She heard a cry coming from the older.

“Shh, you’re safe now. I will take care of you, you’ll be warmed soon.”

Elsa had tears in her eyes. She desperately wanted to safe them, and she had no clue why. Maybe because they were so young? She had never taken a baby in her arms ever, politely refusing when an Arendellian asked the Queen to take their baby in her arms. But this time, she felt her heart dropping. They were all alone, and someone had to care for them.

“Gale!” Elsa desperately called. “Help me return home. And please, use warm wind, they are already frozen enough.”

She went out of the wreckage, holding carefully both infants. She tried managing the blanket so it wouldn’t let air pass somewhere unnecessary but letting some space to let them breathe. Bruni got into the blanket and Elsa guessed he became warmer to help, without setting himself on fire. Holding all at its place in a semi-tornado was nearly an impossible mission, but they all made it into the village in one piece.

“Elsa?” someone questioned as Gale faded away, revealing the former queen. Elsa was a little too dizzy to open her eyes yet, but she thought having recognized the voice of Yelena.

“I need some help. I found those in a wreckage. Someone tried entering the Dark Sea.”

The Northuldra leader had a worried look. Elsa heard footsteps behind her.

“I didn’t think you’d be back that early, you’ve been gone for two hours at most. You decided going to Ahtohallan was a bad idea?”

It was Honeymaren, who still sounded pissed. Elsa almost forgotten why she was there in the first place.

“Honey… I didn’t go. I know you’re mad at me, but I need some help. Can you find someone who could feed him” she said, pointing the baby with her head down, “And change of clothes, they are naked under it, they would have freeze to death in their wet pyjamas? There must be a child in this tribe that is their size or used to be”

She went in her tent to wrap them with warmer cloth. The baby was shaking, but still sleeping. She put him softly on her bed, but watched closely. He looked to be more than six months old, so she feared him turning around and fall from the bed. She then proceeded to rock the oldest, who was slowly waking up from her nap, waiting for someone to bring a change for her. Elsa had a closer look at the child. She moved a bit of hair away from her face in a motion to secure the child.

“What is this,” Elsa whispered as she thought she had seen a bit of dirt on the child’s forehead.

With a closer look, the fifth spirit realised it was a birthmark, above her right eyebrow, partly hidden by her hair roots.

She held the child differently to go check on the baby when she felt a sudden warm spot on her hip. Elsa realised the warm spot was actually wet.

“Did you just pee on me?” Elsa said softly. She hesitated between being mad and laughing.

The toddler looked up to her, in a semi-sleep. Elsa could bet the girl hadn’t even notice she did yet. “That’s ok, we’ll find you a change of clothes.” The child needed to be reassured and feel secured, not being blame for something done accidentally. Elsa didn’t even know if she had been potty trained. She was all naked under the blanket, she probably just needed to pee and did her business.

Honeymaren entered in the same moment. “I found you all of these. What happened?”

Elsa started explaining all the story. Mid-explanation, a woman entered, asking if she could nurse the baby. He started crying at this exact moment. “My guess is you came in at the right time.”

The woman nodded. “I also got you all those clothes my daughter just outgrew. I hope they fit, Yelena had estimated the baby to be just a little younger.”

“Thank you to you, and everyone that helps in any way. My guess is their parents died on the boat. They survived barely. It is normal I immediately got attached to them?”

“I guess that’s adrenaline that kicked in?” Honeymaren proposed. “But they are very cute. I’d understand you to fall in love.”

Elsa took care of them for the rest of the day, with the help of a few mothers in the tribe, as she had no idea what she was doing. Elsa ended up asking the toddler her name, hoping she’d answer something that made sense, or that the child understood her language.

“Nora,” the small girl said. Well, that was what Elsa decoded, because the r was quite fainted.

“And do you know the baby? Is it your brother? Do you know his name?”

She got a nod. “Kai.”

“Well, Nora, I’m going to take care of you and Kai now. We’ll be a family. What do you think?”

She was adopting the children like they were hers. She took that decision while rocking the baby, when nearly everyone was asleep but them. Nora was a smart girl, and she seemed to trust her faster than Elsa expected. She had asked once about her parents, and Elsa had no clue how to answer. Honeymaren, who had decided to stay the night to offer some help, replied in her place. It broke Elsa’s heart to know she wouldn’t see her parents ever again.

“Do you think it’s a sign from mom and dad?”

“What?”

“I meet them the day before it does five years my parents died. In a shipwreck. They are parentless. Do you think it’s a sign I have to be their mom now?”

Honeymaren made a soft smile, “I’m sure you can be a good mom. You already have. They are alive and feel safe with you. With a little help, I’m sure you’ll do wonderful.”

Elsa made a little funny look. _With a little help._ If she didn’t know her friend good enough, she would have been pissed, but she knew Honeymaren was just mocking her for fun, and that she meant well.

A few minutes later, a tear fell down her cheeks.

“You’re thinking about your parents?” Honeymaren assumed.

“No… Actually, there’s something I never told anyone and… well, becoming a mother to Kai and Nora made me think about it.”

“You know you can trust me, Snowqueen.”

“Yes, I know. That’s why I’m talking right now instead of shutting down like I did in the morning. I’m sorry about that, I guess I just needed to be alone. But it has its advantage: have I gone with you, we’d ridden the reindeers and they’d be dead by now of hypothermia. Now, what I’m trying to say…”

Elsa took a deep breath. She didn’t really know how to say it.

“There is another reason why I asked Anna to be queen that I haven’t tell her yet. I wanted the queen of Arendelle to be able to give succession to the kingdom. I can’t. Or at least, until today, I didn’t think I could.”

“You thought you weren’t able to take care of kids?”

“Honey, can you let me talk?”

“Yes, sure, I’m sorry, no more interrupting.”

“It’s been a couple of years that I realised I didn’t want to have a king to rule Arendelle with me. I didn’t think I could have children of my own. And even younger, before realising I wasn’t into men or sex, I feared having children because of my power possibly be given to them, or being even more powerful than me.”

“It must have been awful to think you’d never had kids because of fear of your powers.”

“Well, since I’m here I know that my powers are nothing to be afraid of. But that’s not what’s important now. I rejected every single person coming into the castle hoping to court me. Every prince or ambassador of a kingdom. I… I never was interested in men. And any mention of something sexual got me cringe. I asked Anna to become queen because I feared my people asking questions about ‘why there is no king’ in a couple of years. I don’t know if it’s due to me being imprisoned in the castle for years without seeing any men, or me being so different, but I didn’t see myself marrying anyone. I still don’t. Me having a wedding would be forcing. I prefer being here, single, and my only hope is that you can understand how I feel. I’m scared of rejection, of the looks people will have.”

Honeymaren listened until Elsa was done. She felt relieved that all that pressure was off her shoulder now. She looked at her friend every second, hoping to have a reaction.

“You never loved men; I get it. Have you ever thought of loving a woman? I’m just curious. I guess it can happen, even though I never heard of it.”

“No… not really. I like you as a friend. I don’t see myself into a relationship of this sort. I never thought until now that I could love someone enough to engage myself into a long-term thing, but I guess I am now a mom forever.”

Honeymaren took Elsa’s hand, making her a little uncomfortable. “You are still the Elsa I’ve always known, and I’ll never judge you for who you are. I told you I could be trusted; your secret is safe with me. But one day, you should tell your sister, I think Anna deserves to know. Now, I’ll head back to my bed, I think we both need some rest.”

Elsa nodded, put Kai into a last-minute-made crib, and tucked him in before going to hers.

The next morning, she felt different. She felt she had gained some maturity in a matter of a day. She felt ready for the challenge she faced. She had her friends on her sides, and she knew she’d visit Arendelle soon enough to tell her family about the news. Her initial plans of going to Arendelle in a couple of days faded away. She wanted to bound with her new children before heading to another new place for them. She thought Kai was too young to mind, he was only around nine months old, but Nora would. She didn’t want to scare her. The former queen having kids would bring too much attention, and Elsa knew her daughter wasn’t ready to be a princess.

Nora seemed very surprised as they went out of the tent. She looked at the forest with both curiosity and fear, when Elsa invited her to play with another child a little bit older.

“Why don’t you go play with your friend here? She is nice, you know. She just wants to play.”

It took a few minutes, but Nora finally managed to take a few steps closer to the other children.

“She probably just doesn’t come from a forest and finds the tree too tall, don’t worry, Elsa. She’ll get used to it,” Ryder said, coming from behind, with a baby deer. “Let’s see if she finds this cute.”

“Be careful with the reindeer, Ryder, I don’t want you to traumatise my daughter,” Elsa warned him, before humming a lullaby to her son. The same her mother used to sing to Anna and her.

_When the north wind meets the sea…_

She felt the wind suddenly hit her in the face. Kai must have felt it too, as he started to cry.

“Gale, what do you want? Don’t tell me you are jealous…”

She saw a letter coming from the sky quite slowly.

“Ah, thanks for the warning. Is it from Anna?” Elsa said, firmly, but she got excited. She suddenly got the idea of writing back to her to invite her sister and Kristoff in the magical forest. If it was too soon to travel with her children, it didn’t mean her family couldn’t come!

She freed one hand to take the letter and read it. She didn’t recognize the writing. It wasn’t from Anna. But it had Arendelle’s flag on it, she could recognize it anytime. She had used that same paper too often she had lost count.

_Dear Elsa,_

_I hope things are going well in the magical forest. In Arendelle, things are like usual, with the exception that Anna hasn’t been so well lately. Nothing major, I don’t want you to worry for your sister for nothing, but she hasn’t been herself either, and she won’t admit it and doesn’t rest at all. She is very busy with a ceremony she wants to plan out and won’t listen to me. I wondered if you could come over in the kingdom and offer a hand. Maybe she would listen to her sister more than her husband? And having you close for the fifth-year od your parents’ passing would bring her a smile._

_Sven wanted to add that he’d like to see a couple of his north friends, and I haven’t seen Ryder for a while, maybe it’s the time we invite our Northuldra friends over? I won’t lie, Sven has been more alone this week because I was looking at Anna and making sure she didn’t do too much and exhausted herself. Ryder could make him happier while it passes. And Anna knows how close you are to Honeymaren, I’m sure she’ll like Arendelle._

_Thank you in advance for coming over, we’ve been missing you in the last month_

_Kristoff_

Elsa felt tense, suddenly. Her idea of Anna and Kristoff coming over was falling apart. Anna was sick and needed her. And Elsa couldn’t help but thinking that bringing the Northuldra away right now was the worst idea possible. No one knew who had been into the dark sea. They couldn’t leave right now.

“What does Anna says? I bet she misses you, uh?” Honeymaren said, behind Elsa, which made her startle. It didn’t help calming down Kai at all.

“Shhh sweetie, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” she said before turning toward her friend. “It’s Kristoff. He wants me to come over with you and Ryder. To take care of Sven while Kristoff look after Anna and I guess I’ll go back to queen duty for a while. Well, that’s what he’d like, but see, with these little kiddos right here…”

“What’s up with Anna?”

“She has been sick, and even though Kristoff doesn’t want me to worry for her, the idea that I have to go there to replace her have me worried to death. If she was really bad, he wouldn’t write it in a letter to scare me, so I’m afraid of what I’ll head too. Plus, you should stay here to guard the forest. Yelena wasn’t pleased when I told her yesterday that there was a shipwreck around.”

“Elsa, is your sister is sick, you need to go.”

“And Kai and Nora? It’s not that I don’t trust you or any member of this tribe to care for them, but I want them with me. But I don’t want them to get whatever Anna’s caught, and I’m afraid I’ll be running to one side of the castle to the next for my duties…”

“Then, Ryder and I will go with you, and we’ll leave everyone else here to guard. This way, Kristoff can look after the Queen, you look after the kingdom and I babysit? Honestly, I’d love to help you, and come on, it’s been two years and half that the mist has disappear and we have yet to visit Arendelle. Ryder will be trilled to go. And Sven will see his friends.”

“Ok, you’re right. But I’m very concerned about Anna. If I went alone, I’d call Nokk to bring me there, it’d take a few minutes. With the reindeers, it will be a few days. I… no, you stay here with Kai and Nora, and I’ll come by every day.”

“Elsa, we’re going too. We can’t fit all on Nokk, we’ll travel by land, with your children. You’ll just have to make sure you go freeze the big river we have to cross, not so far from here, because it’s too large for the reindeers to pass with us on their back.”

Elsa nodded before calling for the water spirit. She hoped he was calmer than the last time she saw him. She didn’t even mind packing anything. Most of her belongings were still in her old bedroom in Arendelle, she didn’t need anything in particular.

“I’ll see you in a few days, then. Or maybe earlier, if I decide to go check on where you are at and make sure you’re not lost.”

And here Elsa was, next to Nokk, going to the fjord of Arendelle after a little kiss goodbye to Kai and Nora. She felt ashamed of letting them behind that early, but she knew Honeymaren wouldn’t let anything happen to them. Ryder was packing while Honey looked after the kids. Elsa couldn’t blame anyone and didn’t have much choice. She could only hope Anna wasn’t that bad and she’d see her Northuldra friends faster than expected. For the first time since she ridden Nokk, she looked back. She imagined Nora waving her goodbye and her heart warmed again. She felt torn between two different family duties, but decided to do the next right thing. And today, it was checking on Anna.


	4. Anna's sudden sickness - Kristoff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is going on with Anna? Is she hiding something from Kristoff? How will she take Elsa's unannounced arrival?

Kristoff couldn’t be happier when he saw Elsa on Nokk further in the fjord from the window of Anna’s office.

“My love, I need to go check out on something, can you stay here until I’m back?”

“Kristoff, I’m an adult, I am working, and I have to be in the ballroom in half an hour. Can you please stop? You’re getting on my nerves with your constant checking on me this week.”

Kristoff bit his lips. It was true he had mama her a bit lately, but she was working way too much for his liking, and she had felt sick a little too often. He could see she was exhausted, even if she’d never admit it.

“Yeah, whatever, I’ll see you later. Olaf, stay with her and if there’s anything, come get me.”

He left the office and rushed to the port where Elsa joined him.

“I got here the fastest that I could. What’s up with Anna?”

Kristoff reprimanded a laugh. “I’d start by saying Hi. And you didn’t need to come that fast, but now you’re here, maybe she’ll listen to me. She’s in her office, planning a little ceremony for your parents…”

“Oh yeah, hi Kristoff, nice to see you. So what did you mean by Anna is sick? She caught a cold? I mean, I thought she was doing very badly, but if she is in the office, it must not be that bad.”

Kristoff bit his lips. Elsa seemed a little moody. Not like Anna, but maybe a little pissed. He guessed she had taken his letter a little too seriously, and was even more worried than he was. Oops.

“Well, she has difficulty keeping any food in, but she won’t let anyone know. She barely mentioned it to me, I heard her throwing up a few times this week. You’ll find her a bit pale, and being honest, she lost a bit of weight too. And I can see she is more tired than she ever was, but she doesn’t complain, and contradict every single time I brought it up. I thought maybe you could get her to rest a bit. She is exhausting herself with the ceremony. The faster you help her…”

“The fastest she rests,” Elsa cut him out, nodding, “I’m going to check on her, are you coming?”

Kristoff followed the former queen. She had not lost her way around in the castle for sure, so he stayed behind. He heard some people whispering about her arrival, but it made him laugh. King Agnarr and Queen Iduna had passed away five years ago, they really thought Elsa wouldn’t come back to Arendelle to be with her sister? It was weird how sometimes, he found Aredellians stupid.

He followed Elsa to the office where his wife was supposed to be.

“Olaf, where is Anna?” Elsa asked, frowning.

“Elsa? Oh I missed you sooooo muuchhhhhh!”

“I’ve missed you too Olaf. Where is my sister?”

“Well, she was finishing some boring paperwork and then she ran off. I don’t know where she went to.”

Kristoff immediately thought of the bathroom. By the way Elsa was looking at him with the corner of her eyes, she had the same theory.

“Go find her, I’ll take a look at what she was working on,” the woman announced.

Kristoff didn’t have to go very far in the hallway before hearing Anna. She sounded awful.

“Sweetie, are you ok in there? Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I’m fine!”

_Yeah I’m sure you are! That’s exactly why you’re throwing up._

“Ok, can I come in?”

He regretted proposing it. First, seeing his wife vomiting was not pleasant to see and he knew he’d have to focus not to be sick too, and second, Anna was suddenly furious.

“Can you just leave me here and go back to whatever you needed to do?”

“That’s done. Oh, by the way, we have a visitor.”

Anna ended up opening the door, she looked panicked.

“Really? And who is that? I didn’t expect any ambassador right now, it’s not the best time.”

He heard footsteps behind him, and suddenly, Anna sighed, her shoulders relaxed, and she made a faint smile.

“You talk about a surprise! I don’t know why I didn’t expect you. Kristoff, couldn’t you just tell me it was just my sister instead of letting me panic?”

Kristoff noticed Elsa was trying her best keeping her cool, but he knew she was about to burst from Anna’s face. Him? He just felt bad. Anna was in a particular bad mood with him today, anything he said was taken as an insult.

“Well, I was planning on coming somewhere this week,” Elsa said, “but then I received this letter and decided to come here earlier.”

“What letter?” Anna said with a mix of curiosity and fear, as if her kingdom was about to get attacked.

Kristoff paled. She was not aware he had sent anything to Elsa. The former queen realised her mistake, and looked in his direction, in a, “uh… well…”. He had to explain now. As if Anna wasn’t already pissed at him!

“Well, I thought with this time around, you might want your sister to be with you and, uh, well, since you don’t really listen to me when I suggest you to rest, I uh…”

“You played in my back?” Anna said, furiously. “Kristoff! I tell you I’m fine! You guys stop worrying for me!”

“Anna, sister, please, calm down. I came here because I felt you might want me around. I heard you are a little tired lately, and honestly, I get it, I know how you always want to have everything be perfect and a ceremony for father and mother is something big to plan, so I thought maybe I could help prepare it for… is it tomorrow or later this week?”

Elsa’s voice seemed to calm a little bit the Queen, but she still crossed her arms. Kristoff was just happy if the tone could settle down just for a bit. He didn’t like drama, and sometimes, Anna was good at creating it.

“Who said I needed help? You’re here to prove I’m a bad queen?”

“We never…” Kristoff said.

“You, I haven’t said you could talk. I’m very mad that you played in my back.”

Elsa sighed, “He wanted to do good, Anna. You loved helping me when I was in your shoes, now it’s my turn. I know you’re lying when you say you’re doing fine. I’m not a stranger you can say whatever you want to, I’m you sister and he is your husband. Maybe we know you more than you think, and maybe you could trust us? I started looking through your paperwork, there are plenty of things I can help you with.”

“You what? Elsa!”

Kristoff decided he had enough. Anna was mad at him, and if she didn’t change attitude, it would only get worse, so he decided to go to see Sven instead. Like, someone who would enjoy him more.

“Hey buddy, how you’ve been? I’m sorry I couldn’t be around this week. Anna is… complicated.”

Kristoff took his _Sven voice._ “It’s ok, she’ll understand one day.”

He startled when he heard an answer back in disgust, “You talk to your reindeer and you reply back for him? Who does that?”

Kristoff turned around, stood up and cleaned the straw off from his pants.

“Hi, I don’t remember having seen you around. And by the way, I’m not the only one, a few people does, actually,” he said, feeling the need to justify himself.

“Okayyy. Well, my name is Jenni. I got here not very long ago, I think it was earlier this week. I’m a bit confused with the time, I’ve traveled a lot lately. I… uh, well, my parents were murdered and I was running away from those who did this to them. I think I found a safe place, though. Arendelle is a wonderful place, and I already have a couple who shelter me.”

Kristoff felt bad for the kid. She looked to be more than ten, but she still have child’s forms, which made her to be at most twelve or thirteen. It was young to be by herself.

“I’m Kristoff. I’m actually the husband of Queen Anna. You are welcomed to stay as long as you want, as long as you don’t bring the trouble here. If you want, we could mention your story to our army? Maybe they know who killed your family? Lieutenant Mattias is a great man, you’ll see.”

The girl seemed a little uncomfortable, and Kristoff decided to change topic. He asked her basic information on her. When he found out she was Sami, he felt a connection with her. They were both orphans coming from nearly the same place.

Kristoff had never mentioned to his wife, but he had always wondered where he was from, who was his family, how he ended up by himself such as young. Sure, growing up with the trolls starting around eight years old was cool, but what about his past? There was so many things he didn’t remember. What if Jenni was a sign it was time to search for his past? Maybe her parents being attacked was a problem he had to solve the same way Elsa heard a voice to go free the Northuldra tribe and the arendellians stuck in the magical forest?

More Kristoff asked questions about Jenni’s past and the Sami, the more she felt uncomfortable. He could see it. Maybe he got too enthusiastic, it clearly hurt her to talk about that. He noticed she breathed uneasily.

“Are you allergic to reindeer or something?”

“ _Oh come on, you really think she is allergic to me?”_ Sven said.

Jenni burst out laughing. “No, really, it’s just a sickness I had that left my lungs barely functioning.”

Kristoff felt bad for the poor kid. Could she have just one happy thing in her life? He decided maybe visiting the castle would make her day.

“You know what, maybe we could both learn from each other. Why don’t you join for diner with us? We always have more food than we can eat anyways. I just hope you don’t mind Sven going with us, and there also a, uh, living snowman called Olaf. He’s quite funny. He’d be happy to have a friend around his age.”


	5. Into Arendelle Castle – Jenni

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenni is invited to an evening with the royal family. How will she react to meeting the queens? Will she execute her plans?

The mention of a living snowman made her doubt about the mental health of Kristoff, but Jenni smiled with all her teeth at the mention of a diner with the royalty.

“I would be honored to, Kristoff.”

There was one easy way to see the flaws of the castle, and it was to enter inside of it. She followed him around, next to the reindeer whose name seemed to be Sven. She loved animals, but she couldn’t make her mind about dining with one at the table, as like, nearly sharing her meal with it. But she couldn’t wait to meet the Queen. If she wanted to poison her, she had to know who she was. Eating with a reindeer was the price to pay for that.

The castle was as amazing on the inside than it looked from the outside. The walls were tall and the room she went to were all very large. Kristoff showed him the way to the ballroom “in which they had sometimes balls, and they’d dance the whole night.” Kristoff didn’t look pleased about that part.

“I bet you hate dancing!” Jenni said.

“Well, I am not very good, and Anna being a Queen, well… it looks bad if I don’t dance with her a few times in the night.”

They went to the dining hall. Jenni was speechless. She never had seen anything this before. A red-hair woman entered in the room.

“Anna, I brought one more person for tonight. She is a newcomer here, she’s orphan, and I thought she’d like some company to eat.”

The Queen did her best to hide her disappointment, but she didn’t seem to want a guest that day. Jenni still caught her smile disappearing for a second.

“Oh, ok. Well, dear, you are welcome in our castle. I’m Queen Anna of Arendelle, but I guess you knew already. Olaf is on his way.”

“My name is Jenni,” the child said, with a little shy look.

Jenni didn’t know how to act, really. She had never met any royalty before, and Kristoff and Anna were quite inviting. Immediately after learning about having a new mouth to feed, the Queen called someone named Gerda to prepare a plate more with all the best food she could get. Jenni was a quite polite person, but to what extend did she have to be for this dinner? What she called good manners could be called garbage for her hosts. She wanted them to trust her, to think she was a nice child who wouldn’t hurt anyone. The last thing she wanted was to bring suspicion to her if something happened to the Queen. Which meant not poisoning her yet. After a few days she talked with them, befriended them, then, she’d look at her options of how proceeding. She had still more than a month before her parents were killed, so taking her time for at least her week was necessary. If she made a move now, they’d immediately accuse her, who just intrude their castle.

She waited they sat before doing so. Jenni noticed two seats empty. One was for that Olaf person, that according to Kristoff, was a snowman. Jenni laughed on the inside. How would a snowman not melt in a dining room, near a fireplace? And a living snowman! It was already bad enough Kristoff talked to his reindeer and invited him inside of the castle.

The snowman finally appeared, talking to someone in a very high-pitch voice. Even with Kristoff warning, Jenni was insecure. It was indeed living.

“How is the snowman… talking and moving?”

“Hi, my name is Olaf, you are?”

“That’s our new friend Jenni. Kristoff and Sven invited her to eat and some family game night,” Anna announced.

“So you thought I was lying earlier when I brought up Olaf, or that I was a crazy man, uh?” Kristoff said, nearly laughing, which was a little offending.

“Well… uh… how? I mean… I never seen anything like this before…”

The tall woman that had come with the snowman let a little laugh. “I made him.”

She put a hand in front of her, palm open like a magician wanting to show you something in his hand, and put her other hand about a feet of distance. She started moving her fingers, as if she was tickling in the void. Little snowflakes appeared falling.

“What is… is that magic?” Jenni said, on a suddenly accusing tone. She was surprised and didn’t understand how the woman could do that. “Oh sorry, I don’t want to sound rude, I just never seen anything like this before. That seems awesome!”

“It is. I have some form of power, but we won’t talk much about them tonight, if you don’t mind. I was gifted at birth, I guess we can say it this way,” she said, looking at the queen. “Oh, my name is Elsa, I’m Anna’s sister.”

“So I have to call you Princess Elsa, I guess?” Jenni asked, to be sure not to make a faux pas. Both sisters laughed. “What did I say wrong?”

“I am the former Queen of Arendelle, and now I live in another place, so princess is not very fitting. Honestly, just call me Elsa.”

Jenni nodded. She realised Hans had never brought up a sister. Did he know, or she had gone to another kingdom before he met Anna? What was she supposed to do with the Elsa? Kill her? Make sure she left just like Kristoff? The second option seemed to make more sense, but Jenni doubted herself. She just wished she could communicate with Hans to ask for directions.

Jenni expected to eat in a relatively silent moment, a calmed and civilised diner, but she didn’t expect it to be like a diner she had at home, minus the chaos of having a baby sister. Olaf and Kristoff could be loud, and Anna was a big chatter too. Being of royalty didn’t mean not having fun, it seemed. More the hours passed; more Jenni was uncomfortable with her duty. They looked to be very nice people; she didn’t know why Hans hated them this badly. Was it to do with Elsa’s magic powers she had yet to explain?

Right after Jenni finished her delicious plate (seriously, she never tasted anything this good in her life, the food served when she was imprisoned would be called poop next to this), wind started banging on the windows suddenly. Everyone sitting at the table startled.

“Weird, today was windless. Gale?” Kristoff said.

Elsa made a little nod, before standing and going by the window. Jenni could look at her in incomprehension when she opened it.

“What are you doing? The wind’s so strong everything will be blown away,” Jenni said.

“No, that’s just Gale. Do you have a message for me?”

She waited and another wind draft was sent towards the castle, but this time, it got in, making Jenni shiver.

Elsa took a paper plane while Jenni wondered who Gale was. She carefully unmade the origami and read it.

“It’s from Yelena. Nothing to signal from the forest. Phew!”

“Since when do you ask her to report when you come here?” Anna asked.

“Oh, hum… because I did and… I guess you never noticed before that I did?”

Jenni could feel Elsa was lying to her little sister. It showed in her face, she was bright red. Anna and Kristoff didn’t seem pleased with her answer as well. But none of them asked questions. Elsa probably had her reasons not to say anything. Jenni could only wonder if something was up in the said forest. Did Hans know about the forest and therefore that was why he didn’t bring up a mention of the former queen of Arendelle? Jenni kept her remark for herself, though, and Kristoff broke the silence.

“Who want some cake?”

“I usually love chocolate cake, but I’ll pass my turn, I ate too much,” Anna announced. It turned out only Kristoff and Jenni took a piece. At least, Jenni wasn’t alone, it would have been a little embarrassing.

Jenni was paired with Elsa and Olaf for charades (as if Jenni wasn’t bad enough, the former queen was even worse), and Olaf was winning every point for them, but Kristoff and Anna were still better than them. Jenni sat comfortably on the sofa while it was Anna’s turn. She crawl on the ground, but before her husband could name any animal, she ran off.

“Don’t, I will see if she’s alright,” Elsa said. “It didn’t work well for you earlier, so I prefer going.”

Kristoff looked a little insulted about being kept away by his in-law.

“Anna is sick or something? I don’t get why she ran away like this. We were having fun. Well, I think,” Jenni said.

“Yeah, well, we have yet to figure out what she has. She’s been acting weird lately. But she shuts us every single time we asks if she’s ok. I’m gonna go check on her too. Stay with Olaf and Sven.”

Jenni made a polite nod, and once Kristoff had turned his back, she smiled hugely. They were all gone to another room. Should she explore her surroundings?

She decided to take a look at the castle by herself. She said she was going to the bathroom to Olaf so he wouldn’t follow her.

“The bathroom is the other way, Jenni.”

“Oh, thanks, this place is so huge, honestly, I’m a little lost.”

She decided to go to the direction the snowman gave her just so he wouldn’t know she wasn’t planning to go there at all. She wandered around, trying to find where the kitchen was, or anything that could be useful. Before she found what she was looking for, she heard Elsa and Kristoff. She hid behind a wall and decided to listen. She had no clue why Anna had ran off like she did, but she figured that whatever discussion the royal family were having right now wasn’t supposed to be heard by her, otherwise, they’d have returned into the living room to play charades again.

“You should get some rest, darling. You’re probably fighting some sort of virus or maybe your body is just sending you a warning that you’re working too much.”

“But we were having fun. What are you going to tell her? That I just went to bed?”

“Anna. Get some rest. Please. Maybe tomorrow you’ll feel better, but right now, you are pale and you look like you are very tired.”

Both Kristoff and Elsa were trying to convince the Queen to go to sleep. Jenni found it a little weird that Anna wasn’t feeling well. Why was she invited into the castle if Kristoff knew something was up with his wife? Wouldn’t he just have a relax evening with his wife and take care of her, instead of having a guest to look after? This family was weird. But maybe that was why Anna wasn’t very pleased with having her at first. It felt like she was trying to hide she felt nauseous. She was a good actress, because Jenni hadn’t noticed at all.

She planned to return to the living room, but Elsa caught her instead.

“I was searching for the bathroom, but I think I lost my way,” Jenni lied.

The blond woman smiled. “Come this way, I’ll lead you to it. Then, well, I guess it will be the time for you to return to the house you live in. Anna and Kristoff are going to bed early, and if I can be honest, we all going to have a big day tomorrow, and I have a few things that I have to do.”

Jenni had heard about their parents’ passing five years earlier, so she didn’t ask any questions. In all honesty, it gave her time to plan out a strategy. If the family was busy planning a ceremony, they wouldn’t pay attention to her at all.

The next morning, she tried going around the castle to find any entrance. The only places she saw a door beside the official doors were at water level, which meant she couldn’t really go by there, and the chances it led to a dungeon or a place to keep the food cold was high.

 _Food_ What if she poisoned the food? This way, Anna would eat it, and if her sister and husband did too, well, Hans would have the opening to come over.

She spent the whole day looking for a way to enter. She finally did, just in time for the ceremony happening outside in the central place. No one would care about her: everyone was out there. It was the perfect timing.

The door might be small and in a weird place, but it didn’t lead to anything creepy at all. It led to a hallway that looked as great as the rest of the castle. She went up the stairs and found herself into a hallway she’s been before. Now, she just had to find where the kitchen was. She didn’t plan on poisoning the food yet, she was just making some spotting.

It took a few hallways and a wondering if she was lost, as well as avoiding Gerda at all costs twice, but she found the kitchen. She didn’t have the chance to get in, though, as she could hear the servant humming a song nearby. Jenni took all her energy she had to ran away to the entrance she had, scared she’d get caught. She was exhausted when she got to the door. She made her way home wheezing her worst. Running was not her thing at all.

She crashed in bed and thought of how to get Kristoff and Elsa to leave Arendelle. She had no idea how to proceed at all. She knew she got Kristoff curious about her being a Sami orphan. He asked her so many questions, and she was so scared her lies were bullshit that he wouldn’t believe, but he really got into it. It hurt her to talk about her family because she wanted to free them and was scared to fail, so she knew she had to talk about it again to Kristoff. She just had to find a moment he’s alone. She wasn’t very at ease with Anna and she couldn’t say why. Maybe it was because she was supposed to kill her, and the queen was a little too sweet with her, which made it so hard. They were all nice. But in the end, it was the royal family, or Jenni’s. And Jenni didn’t want to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I have to admit this is my worst chapter so far, which is probably why it took me the most days to finish it. But I pretty sure the rest of it will be better. Next: Honey Maren's POV as she and Ryder get into the kingdom! Oh, and feel free to comment for any suggestions or comments about what you liked or not, ideas of things I should write or that you'd like to see, etc. (And if something really doesn't make sense, please let me know. I'm doing my best to correct my mistakes as I re-read myself, but my first language is French. I'm willing to improve though!)


	6. Finally Seeing the Kingdom – Honeymaren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honey Maren and Ryder finally get to Arendelle, bringing the children to Elsa as well. But how does it go when Honey realizes Elsa hasn't told anyone yet?

The journey from the enchanted forest and Arendelle took a few days for Honey Maren and Ryder. Honey wished they could travel with Nokk too, but only Elsa could ride him. And even there, Honey Maren was a little worried for her friend, Nokk didn’t seem very pleased the day she called him. He looked still furious about the boat he drowned. Honey feared a future threat but trusted the water spirit to do its job at protecting their land. And she knew Yelena could send them a message anytime with the help of Gale, the wind spirit, if a return home was needed.

Nora and Kai weren’t too pleased about staying sit for a few days. They wanted to move, especially Nora, who wanted to run. Once in a while, after naps, Honey and Rider would stop and walk with her next to the chariot. It felt great every time. Kai stayed in the chariot at all times, but he loved crawling one side to the other. Actually, crawling was a big word, he was more into moving on his butt, which was the cutest thing ever. His way of turning around in a few seconds was impressive, Honey could only wonder was leg kick he did to proceed as fast.

They spotted Arendelle in the distance. It looked stunning. Elsa had described it very well, but it looked even better than what Honey Maren had ever imagined. She couldn’t wait to be inside the gates, and visit every corner of the kingdom. Freedom felt good. She couldn’t believe she was out of that mist that kept her prisoner for all her life.

“Ryder, watch out!” Honey suddenly scream, seeing a horse charging at them. He looked worse than Nokk earlier that week.

Her brother avoided him just in time, but the woman’s scream combined with the sudden chariot movement was enough to wake Kai up. Honey Maren loved babies and children, but she couldn’t wait to be able to give Kai and Nora to someone else’s arms. She needed a night of sleep. She hadn’t had any in four days, thanks to the little man not sleeping more than five hours at the time without needing a bottle to drink. Elsa had no clue what she signed herself into. But even there, she said she’d be their mom, and she run away as soon as Anna needed her. Honey was a little worried for her friend.

Ryder stopped the reindeers and went towards the horse, who had stopped and was looking at them.

“Hey there, are you from Arendelle? Are you lost?”

The horse had a saddle on, but no one seemed to be around. Honey called loudly, “Hello, someone around that lost a horse?”, but she got nothing. They were so close to Arendelle that they supposed the person riding it had gone back to the kingdom, hoping the horse made a comeback by himself.

She calmed the horse down, apparently, she had a gift with animals, and decided to ride her for a while, to make sure she followed. She found out very fast that the horse was a female. Nora was sleeping and Ryder had taken the baby in his arms to put him back to sleep. They’d be fine without her for an hour.

It was probably around noon when they passed in front of the first house. She saw people staring at her with curiosity.

“I guess Elsa didn’t warn everyone we were coming over,” Ryder assumed. Honey Maren didn’t mind. She would have wanted a big welcome from the Arendellians, knowing the background between her tribe and the kingdom, but at the same time, she knew Elsa didn’t want people to scare her children. Being prince and princess must lead to tons of attention, and those poor kids probably had just lost their parents, were learning to love Elsa and trusting her. They needed to feel safe first. Presentation to the kingdom could wait.

Honey Maren loved the houses they crossed on their way to the castle. She loved the high roofs, the architecture, the water surrounding the kingdom, the mountains behind. She understood why her friends loved this place that much. People interacted friendly toward each other, she spotted many helping out with chores, and they were greeted politely by most people. Those who looked at them were more curious than anything. There wasn’t an inch of mean in their faces.

They approached the gates of the castle. Honey Maren spotted Elsa in the distance, and her smile could only get bigger.

“Hey Nora, do you see there? It’s your new mommy, Elsa?” Honey whispered to the toddler, pointing her finger towards the blond woman. She didn’t want to be too loud; she wasn’t sure if the former queen had announced anything. She assumed Anna and Kristoff were aware after only a few minutes, Elsa wouldn’t have kept the secret. She might be more reserved than her younger sister, but Elsa was still talkative once you knew her.

Elsa almost ran to them.

“Thanks god you’re here! I was starting to get worried. I thought you’d be here earlier this morning, and even yesterday evening, so I didn’t sleep the whole night.”

“Yeah, well, we didn’t sleep that well and stopped more than if we had just been the two of us, let’s say,” Ryder said, pointing with the chin the toddler and baby looking everywhere. “For your information, Kai has a reversed schedule. He sleeps most of the day, but keeps us awake every two or three hours at night.”

Elsa let a little laugh. “Thank you for caring for them. I’ll try to make the switch.”

It wasn’t long before the said baby was in her arms, covered in kisses. Nora looked to be a little jealous of her little brother, because as soon as the kissing started, she put her arms in the air for Elsa to lift her too.

“Yes sweetie, you’re next. I love you too.”

Oh, kids and patience! Honey was glad to finally be in the kingdom. She expected to do a lot of babysitting while in town, as Elsa was probably helping her sister with the tasks of running a kingdom, but no way she was the one sleeping with them. Uh-uh. She’d rather share a bed with her brother if it was needed. But the castle seemed so big that if they were sharing, it was weird.

“Who is that horse?” Elsa suddenly asked.

“We found her about an hour ago, I figured someone lost her.”

Elsa made a no from the head, worried. “That is not our saddles or reins. This horse belongs to another kingdom, but I don’t recognize the colors here,” She said, pointing a piece. It seemed a logo used to be marked into the leather, but it was quite faded.

“That could be a horse Jen used,” Kristoff said, coming their way. “She escaped from somewhere she didn’t name, and I overheard the man whose house she lives in saying she was with a horse. Apparently, she lost it around your ice castle, Elsa.”

Honey Maren thought it made sense, and watched Kristoff and her brother interacting with the reindeers. The look Sven had when he saw his friends, it was priceless. Kristoff didn’t seem to be aware they were coming, because he seemed surprised to see them at first.

“Oh, Honey Maren, who are those children you brought up with you? Are they related to you? I don’t think I met them before,” he said.

“This is Nora and Kai,” Elsa said. “I’ll tell you more about them later. By the way, where’s Anna?”

“She felt very nauseous after lunch, so she decided to go have a nap.”

“Oh, ok. I’ll wait to see how she is later before presenting the kids, I don’t want them to get sick too.”

Nora started yawning, her head resting against Elsa’s shoulder, and her mother decided it was time for a nap in the warm of the castle.

“Do you need help putting them to sleep?” Honey Maren asked, excited to finally visit the castle. She also wanted to know how the last days had been here, and what Anna was up to.

“No, I’ll be fine, and you know, I’d like to bound with them a little more. You’ve been taking care of them for the last four days, and honestly, I don’t want them to forget me. But thanks for proposing.”

Honey Maren started laughing. They wouldn’t. Elsa was to be their mother from now on. She decided to let the woman go by herself anyways, and followed Ryder and Kristoff, who were leading the horse to a stable.

Honey Maren didn’t expect that question from Kristoff, but as they were installing the horse, he turned to her and said, “So, you had kids since the last time I saw you and Elsa didn’t tell us?”

She was shocked. Elsa _didn’t tell them anything?_ Ryder looked at her, in disbelief as well. Kristoff seemed a little uneased when he saw their looks.

“I’ll let you sister-in-law explaining all to you, but no, they’re not mine. Nor Ryder’s. Elsa found them in a boat that wrecked next to her parents’. We guessed they lost their parents the same way she and Anna lost theirs, and she decided it was a sign from Iduna and Agnarr.”

“Elsa became a mother a few days ago and never told us? Why? And she came here without them as soon as she saw our notes? And who tried entering the dark sea? That’s why she asked Yelena to report anything weird and wouldn’t tell us why? Since when she keeps secrets from us? Because Jenni was there?”

“I don’t know, but maybe she didn’t tell you at that moment because that Jenni girl was there. You know Elsa, she doesn’t talk with people she doesn’t know about important matters. And sometimes she’s so secretive. She almost didn’t tell anyone about going to camp in Ahtohallan, I had to force her into telling me where she planned to go. She didn’t go in the end due to her discovery, but still. And then, I guess she forget to mention anything? That’s not Elsa, but maybe she didn’t want to worry anyone. How’s Anna, actually?”

“She’s been sick often lately. She is exhausted. At least, she decided to rest after a day of Elsa convincing her, which is a start, but I don’t see much improvement. I don’t know what to think. I might go tomorrow see my troll family in the mountains with her. Maybe they can figure out what’s up.”

Honey Maren was curious about those trolls, but didn’t ask questions. She decided to leave Kristoff there with Ryder, as she knew soon they’d talk about reindeers for hours and man topics that would bore her to death. She decided to go visit Anna. She hadn’t seen the red-hair girl in forever.

She found her way into the castle, and looked at every detail, every painting. There was a few of Iduna and Agnarr, some painting of Anna and Elsa, one with Sven, Kristoff and Olaf as well. She could only smile at them, before going upstairs. She saw Elsa before she could get lost into the palace.

“What are you searching for?”

“I wanted to see Anna. I don’t want to accuse you of anything, but… they weren’t aware I was coming, they have no clue who were Kai and Nora… How come you don’t mention anything this important to them? Is there something I’m not aware that I’m missing?”

Honey Maren wasn’t mad at Elsa, but disappointed. She didn’t understand. She looked at the blond woman with confusion, trying to see a reaction from her.

“I… I didn’t tell Anna because I was so worried about her and the things I had to plan for the ceremony about mom and dad and… I don’t even know. I was scared they’d be mad I left them behind, I guess.”

“Well, now Kristoff is not very happy he found out because I was confused as to why he asked. He figured out when I told them I wasn’t their mom. And he is a bit pissed you didn’t talk about what happened with Nokk and the forest. But listen, I am not here to judge you, I’m just a friend who wants to hep out, so where is Anna’s bedroom that I have a chat with her. And I swear I won’t tell her about the kids.”

“Oh please. I didn’t tell her because I didn’t want the whole kingdom to wait on their arrival. Anna cannot keep a secret when it’s something that gets her excited. Everyone would have learned before I tell her not to talk, if you want my opinion.”

“Opinion on what?” Anna said, coming from behind.

Honey Maren could only see how pale the Queen was. It was scary. She was paler than Elsa on a bad day.

“We’ll talk about that later, Anna. How are you feeling? Any improvement?”

The red hair sighed, not pleased about being kept aside. Honey Maren knew Anna couldn’t know yet, even if it killed her. She looked so sick, it was too risky for Kai and Nora to get whatever sickness she had. Especially they didn’t have the antibody needed to fight it.

“What are you hiding from me? Honey? Tell me, if Elsa won’t.”

Honey didn’t know where to place herself. She didn’t want to break Elsa’s trust, but at the same time, Anna deserve to know. Hopefully, they’d be able to keep her out of whatever room the babies were sleeping in.

Honey didn’t break her silence. Elsa ended up saying, “I’ll tell you when you won’t be sick anymore. I have two someone to introduce to you, but I’m afraid of exposing them to a virus, sister. I am not sure how strong their body are in fighting it.”

Anna seemed upset. “Who is here with you?”

Of course, Nora decided her nap was over right in this moment, and appeared a few stairs above where Anna was standing.

“Momelsa? I poo-poo,” she said in her young-high-pitch voice. Honey Maren had to restrain herself from laughing. She knew Anna was about to turn and be upset about having a niece she didn’t know about, and Elsa didn’t look very please about having a diaper to change. Her cheeks were redder than Anna’s hair.

The only thing Anna found to say was whispering her sister’s name, in total disbelieve. She turned around to take a look at the child, then turned back to Elsa and Honey Maren.

“How long have you hidden this from me? Where did you hid her for all this time?”

Honey knew the only reason Anna wasn’t talking loudly and showing how mad she were was because she didn’t have a lot of energy and didn’t want to scare the toddler.

“Four days, literally. They’re orphans. I wouldn’t lie to you this long, Anna, who do you think I am? Now, if you don’t mind, it seems Nora is looking to be changed. You don’t want her to have to look at us fighting in a dirty diaper, don’t you?”

Anna rolled her eyes and looked at her sister leaving, nearly crying. Honey found it unfair. She tried calming her.

“Why don’t we go have a talk calmly somewhere. I’d like to know what is going on with you. I’ve seen you better, in all honesty. I’m pretty sure Elsa has been so worried about you that she didn’t want to add a layer.”

“There’s some other things going on?”

“No… Everything is fine. We are just trying to find out where they are from.”

They went to Anna’s bedroom, as the Queen looked to be tired.

“Tell me how you’ve been, maybe there are some things I know from surviving in the forest that could help?” Honey offered. She just wanted to change subject and have Anna think about something else than her sister’s lies.

“I… I’ve been nauseous lately. It started a bit more than a week ago. It’s mostly either before I eat, or after, and also late in the evening, just before going to bed. Except in the last three days, I could function, but I think I got something else on top or it got worse, cause I haven’t been able to eat anything without throwing up immediately. It’s bad enough that Kristoff bring my food here so I don’t throw up in front of everyone. And I’m just tired all the time. Elsa seems to think it’s because I overworked too much lately. Maybe she’s right.”

Honey had some things she thought about, but she kept them for herself. “Kristoff told me about trolls who could find out what is going on, talk to me about them.”

“They are trolls that looks like rocks, that’s how they hide to those who don’t know about them. I guess they are a form of earth spirit. Grand Pabbie has healing powers and he also leads us in our quests.”

Honey smiled. The trolls could help without any doubts. Anna’s eyes started to close, so Honey Maren kissed her goodnight and went down to see what Ryder was up to. She didn’t feel like being a bridge between Elsa and Anna and Kristoff in what had happened today, so spending some time alone was very needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is my chapter. I didn't plan on creating some drama between Elsa and Anna, but then... oops! I want you to give your opinion on Anna's sickness? Is it Jenni messing with her, or is something else is up?   
> Next chapter: we return to Jenni's POV, whose time is running out.


	7. Change of Plans – Jenni

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenni realises Anna is not dead yet, after a week. What will she do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had planned on posting earlier than today, but my plans changed a bit with my grandmother's passing, and I didn't find a lot of time to write. But here it is.   
> In the chapter, there is a song. The melody of it is I Seek the Truth, an outtake from Frozen 2. Does someone know if we can add an audio in this? Maybe I'd cover the song with my lyrics changed.

A week had passed since Jenni’s first intrusion into Arendelle’s castle. If she didn’t poison the food on the first day, she had returned every day since, secretly, to visit the kitchen. She was in the waiting of hearing about Anna’s passing, but nothing happened. She was starting to lose her patience here. There wasn’t that much poison left, and she started wondering if she should have put the entire thing in at the same time. She had taken the guess that she had to poison her every day for a number of time before it killed her, but now she was wondering if it was a matter of quantity and making it last a week made it ok for the body to ingest. Or maybe Anna hadn’t been eating her food and that was why she was still alive to this day? What if she was poisoning Kristoff or Elsa instead? No, she couldn’t be, she had spied on the cook to see what he prepared for the queen specially. Jenni was starting to fear she was failing miserably on her mission. With the quantity left, she only had one last chance.

She returned to the castle, hoping to be able to get to the kitchen unseen, like usually. She knew the palace better now, and knew places to hide when needed. She knew what spots were safe for her to hang around, and which room to forget, as people were always there. She made her way towards the kitchen, but this time, she heard a voice that wasn’t Gerda’s. It was Kristoff and that woman Jenni had still to learn her name. The one who came with reindeers from who knows where.

She hid behind the door and listened to the conversation.

“My mother made me this soup when I was sick and couldn’t eat anything. Hopefully, this work this time.”

“I hope so, Honey Maren, because she hasn’t been able to eat at all. She barely keeps water. She is starting to be dehydrated and I’m worried for her. Today is not a good idea to get out with Anna because of the rain, I’m afraid it’d make her condition worse, but we need to visit Grand Pabbie. She is stubborn, so we didn’t go yet, but I don’t want her to die.”

Jenni realised why her poisoning hadn’t work yet. Anna was too sick to eat anything. She probably had thrown up all the food that Jenni had previously poisoned. At this point, Jenni hoped her sickness would be fatal. She knew she had to try one last time, and hopefully, Anna would keep a bit of the soup her Lord Kristoff was making her. If there was a day she had to eat, it was this one. Jenni couldn’t last longer. She’d get caught hanging out in the castle soon enough. She took the risk every day, but she lived in fear. The rush of adrenaline she had every time…

She was about to go hide further away, scared of Honey Maren and Kristoff seeing her, but they changed their conversation and it kept Jenni very interested.

“I… I met a girl, Jenni, and she told me she is a Sami orphan. I am too, and I’ve thought about it for the last week… I want, at some point when Anna will be better, go out there and try to find my family. Find where I’m from, what happened to my parents, how I ended up in the woods around here harvesting ice. I was so young I don’t remember most of it. I just remember being with Sven, and one day, I found the trolls.”

“Maybe you should talk to Anna about it?”

“No, we have more important things to find out. I don’t want to have her worried about me. Besides, she won’t understand.”

“Tell Elsa, then? I mean, she herself went through stuff, went through self discovery and after her family’s past. The voice she told me she heard, how she found the enchanted forest and freed us. If you think Anna won’t get it, Elsa surely will, and I think she’ll support you.”

Jenni frowned. Enchanted forest? Maybe that was what Hans wanted? She didn’t know his intention as why he wanted Anna killed, but taking control of an enchanted forest could be one. Jenni’s smile couldn’t be bigger. Her plan for having Kristoff away could be working. She just had to find a way to convince him to leave Anna’s side as fast as possible.

She decided to go hide until they were out of the kitchen. When the room was cleared, she went by the cauldron where the soup was. It looked disgusting. Jenni wouldn’t have eaten it. Never, under any circumstances. She took a deep breath, took her bag in which she kept the poison, and removed the cap. She looked at it. She didn’t know why, but she hesitated. She had done it plenty of times before, but this time, it was like a voice in her head told her not to. She looked at the soup and then closed her eyes as she tilted the flask. It was the last time she did it, but she felt as unsure as the first time. She didn’t even understand why she was going with such doubts.

She returned home that day, crying. She was scared Anna wouldn’t die because she was took sick to eat, she felt she was failing miserably at having Kristoff away because Anna was sick and he wouldn’t leave, even if the idea of searching his family was in his mind, and she had no clue what to do with Elsa. She was scared Hans found out all the poison had been used for nothing and he decided to kill her parents. She was scared, she felt lonely, with no one to ask for a piece of advice. She couldn’t stop shaking. She felt like she wanted her parents alive, but at the same time, she couldn’t believe what she had just done. Hans was making her a murderer. She didn’t know if she could live with that, if they didn’t find out. If they did realise it is her, she was dead. Or prisoner once again, with some luck. She was scared she travelled all this way for nothing.

She prayed to her parents that night, but especially her mother who was always there for her as she was the one staying home. She sought help. What was her next steps about Elsa, did she make the right decision poisoning Anna? What else could she tell Kristoff so he rushes away? She wanted some sort of solution, but couldn’t find any on her own. She was just a child who wanted her mother’s arms. A hug. A _Everything will be fine_ from her mom.

That night, she made a weird dream. She saw her mom, in a place she couldn’t identify, that looked like where she was from without being it exactly. Her mom was there, looking at a river, holding her hand.

“Jenni, I won’t be able to see you very long. My time with you is counted. My time here has come to an end, we won’t meet again, or at least not in here. One day, you’ll see your father and I again, but you have so many things to accomplish before joining us. We’ll be your angel that look after you. We won’t let anything bad happen to you _kulta_ , we’ll help you the way we can from above.”

“What do you mean, mommy? Where…” Jenni said in her dream, realising her mom was leaving earth. “Why are you dying? What happened to you? Did Hans kill you?”

“I have to go now, but before I do, you have to know. The truth is not what it seems, Jenni. And find your sister.”

She woke up on that, in tears. Was her dream real? Were her parents dead? And where was her little sister? What did her mother meant by, “The truth is not what it seems”? Was Hans the bad guy, Anna, Kristoff, her parents? Someone she didn’t know yet, perhaps? Whose fault her parents’ dead was, if her dream was real. Dream was a big word. It could be called nightmare as well.

Tears fell down her face and she decided to go out to get some fresh air. She couldn’t think straight. If her parents were dead, why was she here, how her mission was still useful? But how to prove her parents were already gone and how to escape from her own death? If Hans found out she didn’t care about him and his desires anymore, he’d send people to kill her too, right? She couldn’t believe he broke his promise that she’d have three months to execute his plan. Did she misunderstand three weeks for three months? Or did he planned all along to betray her? Was she used all along to do the dirty job, and he was laughing in the southern isles from her innocence and naivety?

Jenni decided to return to the castle to see if Anna was still alive, or if she had killed her for nothing. Now that she thought her parents were gone in heaven, she regretted her move. She realised why she hesitated the previous day before putting all the poison in. She could barely breathe thinking about what she had done. She was hyperventilating. But she needed to make it to the castle. To see Anna still breathing.

She entered the castle by the same door at water level that she always did. To escape the guards. Once in, she started singing. Because there was the only thing she could do.

Mother, I am flipping through the past   
Trying to understand how I go here  
Mother, I am lost  
Mother, I am scared  
Mother, I don’t know what to do  
What were you trying to say  
Must’ve said a clue that I didn’t get  
Must’ve though I’d find it someday

I feel the regrets surging through me every minute  
Like a fire in the wild  
Mother, you were here  
Mother you are gone  
And you left behind a scared child  
Can’t sit around and cry  
There’s too much to lose  
And I think that I’ve been given this quest for a reason  
And I need to know why

I seek the truth  
What are you telling me?  
I’m ready to hear  
Can’t go forward this way  
With questions growing day by day  
I seek the truth  
What are you showing me?  
I'm ready to see  
I need to know where you are  
To know where I am meant to be

Mother, you were my true guide  
I watched you closely and you taught me well  
How do I be you?  
How do I be good  
And do I belong in Arendelle?  
How do I repair the mistake that I made  
And all that I’ve done  
It’s killing and because of me  
Queen Anna might be gone

And I seek the truth  
What are you teaching me?  
I'm ready to learn  
Can't retreat once again  
And so I turn to you back then  
I seek the truth  
You left me messages  
And they hold the key  
I need to know what they mean  
To know who I am meant to be

She succeeded into finding the Queen’s room without being seen by someone. She knocked on the door, but got no answer. She started fearing the worst. What if Anna was in there, but unable to answer because she wasn’t alive anymore?

She took a deep breath before turning the handle. The door opened. She saw the bed, perfectly made. Queen Anna wasn’t there. Everything in the room was placed perfectly, no dust anywhere. Jenni would have found the bedroom was pretty, if she hadn’t question about where the queen was. She just looked at it in disbelief. Where was she?

She turned around, but instead, she got herself face to face with Elsa, holding a baby.

“Oh uh,” Jenni thought.

The former queen frowned, looked at Jenni with curiosity, and a little bit of mistrust Jenni didn’t like in her look.

“What are you doing here? The guards haven’t mentioned any visitors in the castle.”

Jenni looked down, in shame. She couldn’t admit what was going on. She just wanted to know if the queen was still alive, but asking her sister would only look very suspicious.

“I wanted to know how Queen Anna was doing. I… I guess I didn’t enter by the front door, I was scared they wouldn’t let me pass and lie that the queen is doing perfectly fine. No one around knows that she has been sick. No one has question why she has barely been seen around the kingdom in the last week. I was worried,” Jenni half-lied. While it was true, she had another reason she’d never mention. Elsa couldn’t know what she had done that she regretted with all her heart.

Jenni heard footsteps coming, and in hope to see a healthy Anna, she look up. Instead, she saw someone so familiar it was scary. She was too far to be sure, but she had the impression to see her mother as a child. The toddler ran by Elsa and put her hands up.

“In your arms.”

“I can’t, I’m holding Kai, sweetie,” Elsa said, with a little disappointed look that screamed a _I can’t wait for him to walk so I can take you too._

Jenni put herself at the toddler level to take a deeper look at her, and gasped in disbelieve. There was a mark above her eyebrow that was so familiar. The exact same nose she had. The last time she saw her, she was Kai’s age. But there was no doubt. Now she new what her mother meant. She had Noora in front of her.

“Queen Elsa, why is my sister here? And this little man is most likely the baby mom was pregnant with when I last saw her. I think Kai is my brother.”


	8. A Family that Keeps Getting Bigger - Elsa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa just found Jenni in the castle, and the latest just realised Nora and Kai are her siblings. How will Elsa react? What will happen? Will Jenni tell the truth? And where is Anna?

Elsa stared at the child in front of her. She couldn’t believe. How could Jenni say that? Nora was her sister? How? And how did they get separated?

“Mama Elsa, in your ams!” Nora asked once more, getting frustrated this time.

Elsa took a deep breath, looking at the small blond child. “Ok, then.” She didn’t like having no hands free, but she had other things to care about. She looked up at Jenni. The latest didn’t look pleased that Elsa was being called mom. She crossed her arms. Elsa knew the toddler had made a difference between her mother and her adoptive mother by calling her Mom‑Elsa most of the time. But Jenni probably hadn’t noticed.

“What happened to your parents? How did you get separated? And why didn’t you mention your siblings when you told us you were orphan?”

Elsa didn’t want to be accusing or anything. She was just surprised. She wanted to understand what had happened to them.

“You stole my siblings?” Jenni accused her. Elsa was already shocked, but this, it was too much.

“No! How dare… I found them near the forest I live. They were in a boat that had wrecked. No one else than them was alive. I assumed their parents were on the boat and drowned. I saved them from hypothermia. I never meant harming. But since you are orphan and you are just a preteenager, I can take care of them. Now, tell me more about you. Kristoff have told me you are Sami, but that’s the only thing I know. How did you and Nora and Kai got separated?”

Honey Maren got there and looked at her friend with curiosity, but she let everyone talk and listen. She had always been a good listener, and right now was a good time for that.

“I… I might have lied a bit. It doesn’t matter anymore, my parents are really dead, if my dream last night is real. We were all kept in a cell in the Southern Isles.”

“Southern Isles?” Elsa questioned. She shivered. She recalled Hans hurting her family. She didn’t like this kingdom. It had been five years they had stop doing business, and that she last had heard of them. She didn’t want to be on the defensive, Hans probably had hurt her too.

“Why were you kept prisoner there? How did you escape? The same tricks you used to enter in here?”

Jenni shook her head no. “I don’t know why, my parents never got the chance to tell me. I wasn’t kept in the same cell as them. Hans left me in isolation, due to my sickness,” she said before hesitating. Elsa feared the rest.

“So you are contagious?” Elsa said, accusing her of lying.

“No!” Jenni shouted. “He thought so. That’s why I’m the one who was sent here. But I am not, I have never lied, or at least, not about this. I am not a Sami orphan, though. I lied to Kristoff all along. I was supposed to have him away so I could… take care of Anna. Where is she? I was supposed to hurt her and now I deeply regret what I’ve done, and she is not here and…”

Elsa was raging. How dare Jenni hurt her sister? Elsa herself didn’t know where she was. She thought she was in her room, Kristoff had mentioned giving her something to help, or a visitor? Elsa couldn’t even think straight. She realised her best friend was still next to her.

“Honey, send a letter to Yelena by Gale. The forest could be in danger. I don’t know if I should trust _her_ , but I know I can’t trust Hans, and he sent her. We have to be prepared to fight. I’ll tell Mattias to go back there,” Elsa ordered her best friend.

She held Nora and Kai closer to her, and stronger. They were not her children, but she didn’t trust Jenni anymore. She could be lying about her siblings. Nora hadn’t recognize her yet. Maybe she was too young when they were separated since Jenni didn’t know Kai, but Elsa didn’t want to take the chance. She was furious. Old Elsa would have frozen the entire place out.

Jenni started crying. “I shouldn’t have done this, why did I agree on coming. My parents are dead and it’s my fault, and Anna and…”

“What did you do to Anna? Is it you that made her that sick?”

“No,” Jenni said, whipping a tear from her cheek. “In fact, it probably helped. If she hadn’t been sick, she’d be dead since the beginning of the week. I was supposed to poison her, throwing up saved her life, I think. You have no idea how much I regret it, I was coming here to see how she was doing and apologizing. Doing so was supposed to free us all, and me failing meant all of us dead. Butt I dreamed they were dead, so Hans broke his promise and I have nothing to do here. I love Arendelle and I don’t want to be killed.”

Jenni explained the plan in detail, to the former queen’s horror. Elsa started to feel bad for the child. But she didn’t know if she was lying to save her ass or if she was honest. Intruding the castle was not helping her case.

She saw Jenni sight of relieve, and Elsa made a face to her. She wasn’t done with the interrogatory. How dare did she think she was released without trouble? Yes, she was just a child, but Elsa planned on having her punished and pay for her acts.

They were interrupted by Kristoff. Elsa feared the worst. How was her sister? Was she ok, or Jenni had killed her?

“Elsa, what is that face?” Kristoff said, not understanding the panic in his sister-in-law’s eyes. “Can you, the kids, Honey and Ryder go in the dining room. We have something to announce.”

Elsa was relieved when he said _We_. Anna was alive. She felt Kai slipping up from her arms. She hadn’t noticed Anna was behind her.

“Now that I am feeling better, I can finally take this sweetie in my hands! Come here, baby boy.”

Elsa smiled. “You are? Good. Where we you, actually? I was looking for you.”

Anna laughed. “We went to the mountain to see Grand Pabbie. I am not sick, it’s not a virus. I will explain all of this once around the table. But no need to worry, stop making this face, really.”

Elsa nodded but before moving by the stairs, she turned around to meet Jenni’s eyes.

“You. I am happy my sister is alive and well. But it doesn’t mean I trust you. You haven’t gain it yet. Now, you will leave our castle, escorted by one of our guards. Please do not get into trouble. I’ll see you later for a little play with your siblings, if you really are related like you say. I want to know what Anna is up to, but I don’t want to have to look after you. You caused enough trouble today. You are young and you’ve made a mistake that could have cost a lot, but I think you can grow from it, so I am not planning on imprisoning you.”

“Woah, Elsa, what the hell is going on?” Kristoff said, raising an eyebrow. Siblings? Trouble? Are you really talking about Jenni? Don’t you think you’re exaggerating with prison?”

“Kristoff, you could have lost your wife because of her. And she says Kai and Nora are her siblings. I am not sure yet that I want to trust she tells the truth, she lied about plenty of things. Hans could be manipulating her.”

“Ugh, that guy… but Elsa, if they are indeed their siblings, it means she could be our family. She can come to our diner.”

“Promise me you won’t cause any more harm than what you have done,” Elsa said to the child. “We’ll send Mattias to the Southern Isles. Hans will pay for the manipulating he did to you. But I have to gain your trust.”

“Elsa, I already regret everything that I did, except the part where I got here. I love Arendelle. I don’t have a home anymore, my parents are gone forever, so if I could gain your trust and live around, see Kai and Noora… Oh, by the way, Noora is written with two O. It makes the sound longer. I guess she couldn’t tell you the difference, she is too young.”

Elsa raised an eyebrow. Noora? Oh, well, ok then. Elsa had trouble understanding the difference, but she’d get used to it, probably. Jenni seemed honest as she told her she felt Arendelle was a home, so she decided to let her go eat with them. They all sit at the table: Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Honey Maren, Ryder, Jenni, Kai and Noora, joined by Gerda, Mattias and a servant Elsa didn’t know very well.

“So, Kristoff and I have something to announce. We went to see Grand Pabbie to know what made me sick. It’s not a sickness. It’s actually nausea, caused by some changes my body faces lately. And it could last a few more weeks.”

Elsa notices Honey Maren was smirking. Elsa could bet her friend knew what was up.

“Well, I guess it’s time for the big reveal. I am pregnant.”

Elsa’s mouth dropped. She didn’t expect it at all, but she immediately felt the joy in her whole body. She was going to be an auntie. Her smile was huge, she might have let a little scream go out of her mouth. She was very happy for Anna and Kristoff.

“Wait, but how did it make you that sick?” Jenni asked, confused.

“Grand Pabbie said some people experience nausea in full speed. They call it morning sickness, but honestly, it doesn’t just happen in the morning. I had them all day long. Usually, it stops after the first trimester. I’m crossing finger, because I have had enough of them.”

“That was why you said you weren’t sick anymore, but you still barely touched your plate?”

Anna turned red at Ryder’s remark. She had taken about two bites in total, while most of them had finished their meal. Only Kai had eaten less than his aunt, but it was because he was more interested into playing than anything, to Elsa’s frustration. And he didn’t want anyone feeding him with the spoon. He tried grabbing the spoon plenty of times, crying for him to control what went in his mouth and when, but Elsa was starting to know him. He just wanted to create a mess around him. It ended up with his bowl overturning and ending on the floor. Only Jenni and Noora found it funny. Gerda looked more discouraged by the mess she’d have to clean up. Before the toddler started to follow, Jenni decided to take her off her chair and have her sit on her lap. The preteen started tickling her in the neck, and the little sister seemed to recognize the gesture.

“Enni?”

Elsa realised the child was not lying when she said Noora was her sister. The birthmark helped to identify the toddler as well. But now that Noora had recognized Jenni, Elsa couldn’t deny their link. So, she turned to Jenni.

“What would you think about having a new cousin? I know it’s hard not having parents, and you are too young to grow up orphan. I live in a magical forest north from here, are you interested to go live with us? I know you haven’t been a perfect girl, but I think you can make it up and I don’t want you to be separated from Noora and Kai. They are your siblings, and having you away from them would just be cruel.”

She stared at Elsa in surprised, but then, tears filled her eyes. “You forgive me? And I’ll be living with you? I can have a new family?”

“I guess so. And yes, it means we are a family. I won’t let any of you down. I promise. And I respect my promises, if Hans doesn’t. Oh, by the way, Mattias, unless Anna doesn’t agree with me, can you go to the southern Isles to give Hans his lesson? And I’d like a part of our army to go back to the enchanted forest with me. Just in case something happens there. “

The black man looked at Queen Anna for an approval, which she gave, even if she mentioned not knowing why, but trusted her sister. Elsa smiled back at her. Anna was a good Queen. She was very proud of the woman she became. The family they had, that kept getting bigger. Elsa and Anna would become mom nearly at the same time, and despite the cousins not being the same age at all, Elsa felt great about the experience, knowing her sister would understand what she is going through, in a few months.

“Now, let’s celebrate!” Kristoff said, a big smile in his face.

“To the next generation and our family!” Anna said, holding her glass up in the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is nearly the end of the story, and i hope you enjoyed it as much as i loved writing it. I can't believe i only have the epilogue left to write, it's like i don't want to end this. Hopefully, I wasn't to obvious with what was going on with Anna and I succeeded in surprising a few of you (my sister knows me too well with my family stories, she totally had guessed it as soon as she read that the Queen was sick in Elsa's first chapter).


	9. Epilogue: Hopefully, Bruni won’t get jealous – Anna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seven months have passed since Anna made her big announcement and Jenni, Noora and Kai left to live in the enchanted forest. But a detail catches Elsa's attention.

Anna felt a wave of happiness hit her and all the pain disappeared for an instant. She looked over her legs to that little crying sound, desiring to meet the person making it. She was perfect. Gerda brought her little baby in her arms. Kristoff kissed both of them on the head.

“You have no idea how proud of you I am, Anna. She is perfect.”

“I know. She is absolutely adorable.”

Anna took a closer look at the baby. She had ten toes and ten fingers. Beautiful eyes that Anna wondered if they’d stay her color or turn into Kristoff’s brown eyes. She had her red hair.

“She looks like you, sweet little princess,” Kristoff added, which was very true.

They hadn’t chosen a name for their princess yet. They were supposed to reveal her name in a week to the kingdom, but they wanted to see her face before officialising it. They had chosen two names for both genders. But looking at the baby, Anna knew Mari fitted her best than any other names in the world.

“How do you feel about finally meeting mommy and daddy, Mari?” Anna said, looking from the corner of her eyes at Kristoff to see his reaction to the name, and then putting the baby into her father’s arms.

Kristoff seemed a little uneased about taking the newborn in his arms, asking his wife if he was hurting her.

“I just want to make sure I am holding her right, with her head and all. And you’re right, she is a Mari to me. I can’t believe our little princess is finally born. Oh, by the way, Elsa is just the other side of the door, do you want her to come, or we make her wait longer?”

Anna smiled. Her sister was a good part of her life, and she knew how she was desperate to meet her niece. Anna and Kristoff had plenty of time for some intimacy with their daughter. Elsa had to return to the forest the next day for a Northuldra late fall holiday they celebrated. She let five minutes pass before calling Elsa.

“Come in!” the Queen said to her sister, looking by the door.

It didn’t take long for Elsa to enter.

“Oh, she is so pretty! Congratulation Anna and Kristoff. She is wonderful.”

Elsa’s eyes were filled of water, just like the mommy and daddy. “Can I take her, or you prefer waiting a little bit?”

Anna shook her head for waiting. Elsa only had a day before leaving. Kristoff gently gave the baby to her aunt. As soon as Mari was secured into Elsa’s aunt, the latest made a face that Anna couldn’t tell if it was surprise or worry.

“She is quite lightweight. I guess you expected her to be a little bit bigger, uh?” Anna said. She had never taken a baby younger than three mouths old in her arms, she hadn’t realised how tiny her daughter would be. Pushing her out was so hard she expected her to be bigger. But she was still her perfect little princess still.

Elsa shook her head. “I don’t know if it’s me who always had a cold skin, but she feels so warm.”

Anna and Kristoff looked at each other. Mari had felt just fine to them. “Maybe she’s too hot in her blanket?”

Elsa shrugged and started humming that lullaby their mother used to sing to them about Ahtohallan. Suddenly, Anna smelled something burning. Elsa must have too, she stopped her singing and rocking at the same time.

“Mari? Oh… Did I wake a little fire spirit?”

Kristoff looked at the pyjamas slowly burning, but Anna was so shocked she didn’t talk. She had a magical daughter. She wasn’t as worried as when her mother gave birth of Elsa. She, at least, knew that with the help of her aunt, she’d be fine, and never in their life they’d think of hide her behind closed door, but she still felt her perfect girl wasn’t as perfect as she thought she’d be.

“It seems I’m not the only magical human being anymore,” Elsa said, grinning.


End file.
